Although he has performed and recorded as a tenor saxophonist, Holman is best known as an arranger.[1][2] Through his acquaintance with Gene Roland, Holman was auditioned by Stan Kenton and hired as a tenor sax player around 1951.[1]

Kenton was apparently attracted to Holman's ability to integrate counterpoint and dissonance in subtle yet distinctive ways, and for his knack for making the usually unswinging Kenton band "swing" in its own particular fashion. Holman became Kenton's chief arranger, and wrote much of Kenton's 1950s repertoire; including one of Kenton's finest albums, Contemporary Concepts. He continued to write for Kenton, on and off, throughout the 1960s and 1970s.